


Boxer

by Iithril



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Dogs, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27299257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iithril/pseuds/Iithril
Summary: Sometimes roaming the roofs at night can prove dangerous. Sometimes there are stray spells wandering around, and they may hit the wrong person.In which Frank discovers the joy of taking care of a puppy, while trying his best to get his partner back.
Relationships: Frank Castle/Matt Murdock
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63
Collections: Daredevil Bingo, Fratt Week





	Boxer

**Author's Note:**

> And here's go my first participation for this third iteration of [Fratt Week](https://frattweek.tumblr.com/), organised by the fantastic [titC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/titC/pseuds/titC). 
> 
> This was written for FrattWeek's prompt _Wood_ and Daredevil Bingo's prompt _tickling_. There's also an additional fill with the Daredevil Bingo's prompt _animal transformation_ with the work in the middle of the fic.
> 
> A huge thanks to [EachPeachPearPlum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EachPeachPearPlum) for being an amazing beta! This story wouldn't be the same without her work.

“Tell me again, what exactly happened, please? I’m not sure I understood everything.”

Foggy’s voice held exhaustion, and a special type of lassitude. One caused by too much happening in too little time. Frank felt the same, but he couldn’t help worrying for Matt.

“We were on the roofs, as usual, and Red said there was something weird happening down in Greenwich Village. Then he sneezed, and the next second, he wasn’t there any more. Instead, there was this _dog_.”

Frank pointed at the boxer laid on the couch, somehow managing to occupy all the available space. The dog looked back, lifting his head up with shiny eyes, and his tail wagged and hit the couch with a steady rhythm.

“Have you tried talking to him?” Foggy asked with a sigh, and the boxer turned his head to him and started panting happily.

“You bet I did.”

“And?”

“Foggy, look at him! If it is Matt trapped in a dog’s body, then the dog’s instincts fucking took over. He tried to lick my face when I carried him back here.”

“Well, Matt always wants to lick your face, you know.”

“ _Foggy_.”

“I’m sorry, I’m too tired.” His hands in the air like he was surrendering, Foggy sighed again. “But you know it’s true.”

“I don’t want Matt to be turned into a _dog_!”

Frank’s voice reached a volume high enough to excite the dog, who jumped down from the couch and trotted over to Frank, sitting at the counter in front of the kitchen. There, his tail still wagging fast, he put his jaw on Frank’s legs.

“You always wanted a dog.”

“I don’t want _Matt_ to be my dog.”

“But look at him! Isn’t he the cutest?”

Foggy was sitting facing him, and he beamed at the dog, who redirected his attention to Foggy instead of Frank. He was rewarded with generous strokes and cheesy nonsense and his tail wagged even faster, hitting Frank’s legs every time.

“That’s not — uh, that’s not the problem.”

“How can you be sure it’s Matt?” Foggy enquired, with the boxer’s head now on his thigh, content to be petted and to receive some kind of affection.

“He’s blind. And he has special senses. And he knows the apartment.”

“Ah, right. And he wanted to lick your face.”

Sometimes, Foggy was as insufferable as Matt could be. No wonder they were friends, Frank thought bitterly.

“What about going near the area Matt mentioned before his… transformation?”

“I wanted to bring him home first. There’s no way I could leave him alone on the roofs, or take him with me. He can’t exactly parkour his way around now.”

The dog — no, it was Matt, not just a dog — turned to Frank, begging for attention again. Frank reluctantly patted his head, blocking all thoughts relating to the fact that he was _patting Matt’s forehead as a dog_ , and he had to stifle a smile when he began to scratch behind an ear and Matt cast him a look of pure adoration.

“You’re completely in love with this dog, Frank. Don’t lie to yourself.”

Frank grumbled, but Foggy was right. Matt as a boxer — was it a bad joke that had motivated the choice of his transformation? — was splendid, based on canine criteria. He had fawn-coloured fur with spots of white here and there on his chest, around his paws and on his belly. His adorable head was well proportioned, with a tiny cute snub muzzle. And his eyes — Christ, his eyes held all the love in the world, and he was looking right at Frank, even though his pupils were unmoving. It was difficult to be worried, or even angry as Frank had first been, showered with so much affection.

“I’d prefer to have Matt back and to adopt a real boxer.”

“I can’t blame you. Like I said, what about going to the place he mentioned?”

Frank growled, but Foggy was right, it was their best shot. Whatever had transformed Matt, he had felt it. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

“We’ll do that tomorrow. I’m not going somewhere unfamiliar with him like that.”

Frank’s hand must have found an itchy spot, because Matt’s back leg began to move spasmodically, and his eyes were closed in pure bliss.

“I’ll get back home, then, see what I can do to make up for Matt’s absence.” Foggy sighed as he got up. After a last pat to Matt’s head, who panted happily at him, he left the apartment, leaving Frank alone with a very snuggly boxer.

“Let me be clear, you’re not sleeping with me,” Frank said as he looked right in Matt’s eyes. Human Matt was already bad at staying on his own side of the bed; Frank didn’t want to imagine what he would be like as a dog. Matt could have the couch, or even the carpet, and Frank would have the bed and enjoy a nice, restful night of sleep.

~°~

Frank awoke with something hot and wet licking his face, then attacking his ears with fervour when he tried to protect himself. It took him a second to remember the events of the night, and one more to identify the licking menace and push it far enough away to be safe.

“When did you climb on the bed, huh?” Frank asked as he sat up and contemplated the boxer in front of him, seemingly very happy to see Frank awake. Of course, the dog didn’t answer, just wagged his tail faster and blinked at Frank with absolute devotion shining in his eyes.

Frank pushed the blankets away, noticing from the corner of his eyes all the hairs that covered it, and walked to the kitchen, stretching and yawning as he went. The dog — Matt, damn it — followed him, his claws rattling on the floor. He undulated and shook as if he had no spine, definitely very happy.

“Ah, you’re probably hungry too, that’s right.”

He didn’t want to go outside to buy dog food and leave Matt alone – it was a bit irrational, as Matt would probably jump on the bed or on the couch again and snore happily until he returned, but Frank hated the thought of leaving him. So he searched the fridge for some bacon, and found half a cooked turkey, leftover from lunch of the day before. He took the time to take the meat off the carcass, not wanting Matt to choke on one of the pointy bones, then put all of it in a large bowl and put it on the floor next to the couch. Matt trotted giddily after him, and didn’t waste a second when he identified something edible in the bowl.

“Please don’t poop on the carpet when you’re done,” Frank grumbled, but Matt was too busy eating and didn’t even look at him.

After a quickly prepared omelet and a large coffee, Frank felt a bit better. More awake, at least. Matt had gulped down his breakfast in less than a minute, and when he finally lost interest in licking the empty bowl and walked back to Frank, his whole body was shook by a hiccough.

“You’re ridiculous,” Frank said simply, a smile stretching his lips at the sight of the boxer hiccoughing. He raised an eyebrow when Matt sat down in front of him in a very serious fashion before barking loud and clear.

“No arguments, Red. You’re fucking hiccuping because you ate too fast.”

Another hiccough, another bark.

“You wanna go outside, Red?” Frank asked in a more high-pitched voice, and Matt jumped on his feet and ran to him. It probably was a yes, then.

Frank didn’t want to have the dog climb down the stairs on his little legs, so he grabbed his backpack and emptied it — keeping a gun, just in case, along with another at his hip, a water bottle for Matt and a couple of plastic bags for the inevitable puppy poop. He put a wiggly and very curious Matt in the bag and closed it enough it was impossible for Matt to get out on his own. He was sniffing the fabric of the bag intensely while Frank put on a vest, and as soon as Frank adjusted the bag on his shoulders, he felt a tongue licking the back of his neck.

“No, buddy, you ain’t doing that,” he growled, pushing Matt’s head away. It worked, maybe because Frank started to move, and he felt the dog shifting against his back. He grabbed the keys to their apartment, cast a last look at the kitchen counter to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything, and went out.

Matt stayed still as he descended the stairs, but started to sniff around as soon as they got outside. Frank could feel the gentle breeze of the dog’s muzzle against his skin, and it made him shiver. At least it wasn’t a wet tongue coating his neck in saliva any more.

Frank knew roughly where he needed to be heading, so he started to walk. He wanted to let Matt wander a bit before reaching the place, as otherwise he would be very excited and full of energy when they arrived, and Frank didn’t want to deal with an excited boxer puppy on top of everything. He didn’t even know which door he was supposed to knock on — Matt’s feeling had been directed towards a quite large area. There wasn’t likely to be a sign saying “knock here if one of your acquaintances has been turned into an animal”.

They would figure out. It was a starting point. Frank could make do with that.

As he made his way towards Bryant Park, he couldn’t help but notice the dogs he saw on the street, along with their owners. Strangely enough, they noticed him and Matt as well, some dogs even coming close to sniff his legs very thorougly before being called back by their owners. Owners that would flash a smile at him as soon as they noticed the puppy in his bag.

Even people without dog beamed at him as soon as they spotted Matt. Frank could see the love glinting in their eyes, the “ _ooooh_ ” and “ _aaah_ ” and “ _cute_ ” on their lips. Apparently, having a puppy was the worst possible idea if you wanted to go unnoticed.

He reached Bryant Park and decided to stop there to give Matt an opportunity to move around. He had stayed calm on his back, only shifting occasionally, and Frank had caught his reflection on shop windows, not quite looking around, but tilting his head in every direction, his ears following sounds and his nose wrinkling ever so slightly. If he had kept his enhanced senses and now had dog senses on top of it, there was _a lot_ of information he had to process. Maybe that explained why he hadn’t moved that much.

Frank shifted the bag to his chest and was immediately attacked by Matt’s tongue. Closing his eyes and his mouth tight, he crouched and worked to find the zip and open it.

“Alright, buddy, there you go,” he murmured as he set Matt free near a bench. They couldn’t walk on the grass, which Frank thought was a bit silly, and he didn’t have a leash — didn’t own one at all anyway — so he had chosen a spot without many people and, as far as he could see, no other dogs.

Matt hovered at his feet for a bit before starting to explore around, his nose on the ground. He proceeded in circles, Frank noticed, always coming back to the bench where Frank was seated. A pigeon came closer and he eagerly trotted over to it, seemingly intrigued, before sitting and tilting his head when the pigeon flew away. He turned to Frank and there was unmistakable perplexity painted on his face.

“It’s a pigeon, Red. You know what it is, come on! I know you’ve encountered enough of them on the roofs,” Frank said. He had decided he was going to speak to Matt normally. Lots of people spoke to their pets as if they could understand them, he wouldn’t stand out too much.

Matt barked right back at him before he resumed his exploration, and Frank couldn’t help but smile. He got out a plastic bag when the first poop of the day arrived, and dumped it in the closest bin, while Matt followed him closely. Before he put Matt back in his backpack, he transferred a bit of water to the cup that went with the water bottle and let Matt lap at it, refilling it a few times until Matt sat back again, with this peculiar way of sitting right between his front paws, a bit hunched, licking his chops.

“You good now, Red?”

Another bark, while Matt’s tail steadily tapped on the ground. Frank took it as a _yes_ and grabbed Matt to put him back in the backpack, closing his mouth tight to avoid the dog’s tongue coming at him enthusiastically.

Frank checked the bottle was shut tight before exiting the park, people still smiling at him. It was past 9 a.m. now, and the streets had gotten busier during their stop at the park. But all the people Frank saw gave him space to pass, eyes shining and lips stretching upward as soon as they took notice of the puppy on his back. It was almost like a magic trick. It was drawing a lot of attention to him, but all the focus was on Matt’s cuteness, and nobody really _noticed_ him. They saw a stranger, one who wasn’t even frightening any more, with a puppy happily “looking” at the world.

They paused again in Washington Square Park, Frank following every tentative step Matt took. Again, he technically should have kept Matt on a leash, but the mere idea of it was disturbing him _a lot_. And that was hardly the worst law he’d broken, far from it. If an officer were to approach him, Matt’s shining eyes would probably deter them anyway. That was a common characteristic he shared with his human form: the ability to charm people. No more wounded duck face, just a lost puppy face.

A small girl in a green coat and a matching scarf trotted in front of them, coming to a full stop when her eyes registered the puppy playing with Frank’s shoelaces, then ran back to a lady and grabbed her hand, exclaiming, “Look, Mom! A puppy!” in a very excited voice.

“Yes, honey, it’s a boxer.”

The lady let her daughter drag her closer, smiling apologetically at Frank, who smiled uneasily and focused on Matt, who was tilting his head towards the young child, ears pointed forward. The girl reached to pat Matt’s head, but stopped as soon as Frank spoke.

“Careful, he can’t see your hand.”

A tiny “ _Oh_ ” escaped the child’s lips, but Frank patted Matt’s flank and she moved her hand closer, only touching him with the tips of her fingers. As soon as Matt registered the foreign contact, he leant in the touch, and the girl giggled gleefully.

“What’s his name?” the mom asked Frank, her eyes focused on her daughter.

“Oh, uh, Red.”

“Red? That’s original!” she laughed, and the sound made Matt turn his head, much to the girl’s delight.

“Mom, can we get a dog like him?”

Matt was being scratched behind the ears and wore the most delighted expression Frank had ever seen.

“No, honey, you know we can’t. Imagine a dog in our tiny apartment. There’s no space to run, you’re at school most of the week and I’m at work. Would you want to leave him all alone all day long?”

Distress appeared so fast on the girl’s face that Frank had to stifle the urge to hug her. His heart clenched and he gritted his teeth, patting Matt instead to keep his composure.

“No!” she exclaimed vehemently. “But I can take him with me, in my school bag, right?”

Her mother laughed a little and even Frank smiled.

“I don’t think your school allows dogs.”

The child started to pout and crossed her arms in front of her. Matt tilted his head, curious about why the patting had stopped, and yawned before swaying to Frank and laying down on his shoes.

“Well, sweetheart, I think Red’s had enough for today. Let’s go home, shall we?”

The girl grabbed her mom’s hand without even looking, reminding Frank of how Matt would reach for his hand blindly and yet always find it. She yawned too, rubbed her eyes and shoved her other hand in her pocket. Her mother tucked her scarf closer before smiling at Frank again.

“Say goodbye to Red, Anna,” she said, and the girl waved at Frank.

“Bye bye, Red! Bye bye, sir, thank you for letting me pet your dog.”

“My pleasure, Anna,” Frank answered, and he meant it. He watched the two of them leave the park, heading to their tiny apartment in which they couldn’t keep a dog.

“Shit, maybe they could get a cat, huh.”

Well, better not suggest that if it was also impossible. The distress on Anna’s face had been painful to witness, and he didn’t want to give her false hope. And he wouldn’t see them ever again anyway.

A tiny snore coming from his shoes brought him back to reality. Matt had fallen asleep, probably exhausted after processing all the extra information his new senses gave him. Frank put him back into the backpack, careful not to wake him up, and made sure his nose was out.

He approached Greenwich Village less than half an hour later, and he felt Matt stretching and moving.

“Waking up, Red? Had a nice nap?”

A soft whimper answered him, and he felt pointy teeth nibbling at his hair and the back of his neck.

“What is it?”

Another whimper, louder this time, and the teeth bit deeper, almost painfully. Frank nimbly switched his backpack to his chest, a bit annoyed, and stopped walking abruptly.

“What is it, Red?”

Matt yelped at him, and struggled to get out of the bag. Frank unzipped it and took Matt into his arms. The dog calmed enough for Frank to put his bag back on his shoulder, then tensed again when they reached an intersection.

“Alright then, you know the way?” Frank grumbled, more for himself than anything else.

Frank glanced around and cast a look at Matt, whose ears were pointed to the right. He set off in that direction and Matt didn’t move, so Frank shrugged and continued. Whenever he reached a new intersection, he would slow down enough for Matt to sniff around, not caring about the curious glances people shot at them, and then he followed the direction of Matt’s ears. _A personal compass_ , he smiled inwardly.

Matt barked as they were passing in front of a door looking the same as all its neighbours. Frank paused a moment, then took a step back.

“This one, huh?”

Another bark, and Matt squirmed enough to escape Frank’s arms, who leant forward far enough not to drop Matt from too high. He hurried behind Matt, who climbed the stairs up to the door with great difficulty, lifting himself one step after another. When he reached the door, he scratched it and barked. People passing on the streets turned to them, but Frank crossed his arms and adopted a relaxed stance. He trusted Matt to know the place. He didn’t have any other lead to follow anyway.

Matt stopped barking and scratching and sat on his butt again. A few seconds later, Frank heard rapid footsteps coming to the door, which opened ever so slightly, two eyes shining in the morning sun. Matt dashed forward, slipping through the tiny space available, seemingly in between of the legs of the person, who made a strangle cry and turned around to catch the intruder. Frank used the opportunity to enter, closing the door behind him like the polite person he was.

The interior was radically different. There was a huge staircase in front of him, which Matt was climbing as fast as his short legs could manage, and a marble floor upon which Frank’s shoes tapped loudly as he ran after Matt and the person chasing him. It was a man, dressed in dark brown robes and speaking in a language Frank didn’t recognise.

Matt reached the top of the stairs and galloped down a corridor. Frank caught up to the man running after the puppy as they both reached the first floor. A loud exclamation came from the corridor Matt had disappeared down, repeated by the man at Frank’s side. Probably an expletive, then.

There was a door ajar at the end of the corridor, and curses pronounced in a really annoyed voice. Inside the room, Matt was sitting on the lap of a dark-haired man who was trying to push him away without much conviction.

“Wong, why is there a puppy here?!” the man exclaimed while Frank rushed over and grabbed Matt, ignoring his protestations.

“It was barking at the door, and pushed in as soon as I opened it,” Wong said breathlessly.

“And why— wait a second.” The man turned to Frank and moved his fingers in a complex pattern.

“This is not a dog,” Wong and the man said in unison.

Matt barked at them, his tail wagging happily like he understood their words. He probably did, actually. Frank felt a bit overwhelmed, but he clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the headache that was starting at his temples, and intervened.

“That’s my partner, actually. He got turned into a dog last night.”

The man’s eyes hovered over him, only then registering his presence.

“And you are?”

“Frank Castle,” Frank let out before he could think of giving an alias. Fuck it. They knew Matt wasn’t actually a dog without him saying anything, it was best not to lie about his name.

“I’m Strange,” the man said with a smirk, and Frank froze for a moment before realising it probably was his name. Hence the smirk.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. –” 

“Doctor, please,” Strange cut him, still smirking.

“ _Doctor_ Strange…” Frank replied, “and Wong.”

Wong nodded at him with a grumpy face.

“So you’re saying he got turned into a dog last night? Where were you?”

“On a roof, in Hell’s Kitchen?” Frank didn’t remember their exact location. Matt probably did.

“Did your partner say he saw anything?”

“He’s, uh… he’s blind.”

Strange blinked at him, but Frank continued before he could say anything. He felt like he needed to tell them the truth. It was already so unexpected that they could sense Matt wasn’t a real dog, and this might be their only chance at getting him turned back. Frank didn’t want to ruin it by lying. “He can feel things, though. Has radar senses, in a way.”

Strange and Wong exchanged a glance before Strange spoke. “We know the sort. How did you find us? And how did you get inside? Normally you wouldn’t be able to.”

“We just… walked in? And I followed Red here. I think he could sense you. Or whatever is going on in here.”

Matt barked again as if to confirm this, and Frank stroked his head reflexively, his nerves a tight ball.

“Can you help him?” he asked. He was ready to give anything to have Matt back. He’d even take a dog, or a cat like Matt had asked him countless times. He’d be better. But he couldn’t bear to live with Matt as a dog.

“Actually, I don’t think I can. It’s a shape-shifting spell that was cast on the wrong person. It’s a simple spell, but lifting it can be quite complex, and the possible side effects of attempting it aren’t worth the chance of succeeding.”

Frank could feel his legs failing under him and his chest constricting. His vision darkened, the sound of his ragged breath filling his ears. Dogs didn’t even live as long as humans, he realised, and the thought crushed his heart. He had lost Maria and the kids, but at least they had been _themselves_ when they died. To spend the last years of Matt’s suddenly shortened life with him as a dog because of _a spell_ was entirely out of the question. There was no way.

His legs finally gave up just as a chair materialised under him, preventing him and Matt from falling. A cloak wrapped around his shoulders and he focused on breathing in, and breathing out. The dark dots obstructing his vision slowly receded, and Strange’s voice reached him again.

“Hey there, nothing to be worried about. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. The spell is very weak. It’ll reverse itself in a few days, and there will be no consequences to your partner’s physical or mental integrity, I promise.”

Frank raised his chin to look at the man’s eyes, searching for a lie, a false reassurance. Doctors were specialists in false reassurance, after all. In a voice that had turned raspy, he asked, “You positive of that? Entirely positive?”

Wong answered first, his tone adamant. “He knows what he’s talking about.”

Frank shrugged and pushed himself to his feet. Thankfully, his legs didn’t falter under him this time. The cloak, whose presence he had forgotten, slipped from his shoulders and _floated_ back to Strange, who adjusted it as if it was nothing. Frank had seen his share of weird shit, fighting alongside Matt for a good time now, but this was becoming a bit much. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

_Just… Just don’t dwell on this._ He could forget all about it, as soon as he walked out the door. That all he had to do, right? Descend the stairs, not look back. There was nothing behind him, after all. Cross the hall, open the door, stop in front of the stairs. Not turn back. There was nothing to see. An inconspicuous door.

He could go see some greenery for a few days. That’d be nice, huh? Take Matt with him, warn Foggy not to worry. There was this spot David had told him about, a wild forest. There was something with “balsam” in the name. He’d find it anyway, David had given him the directions from New York. That was all he needed, a few days away from New York with Matt. Time to rest, relax, unwind. Let the city live without them for a bit. Surely it’d be alright.

Frank found himself back at Matt’s apartment. He had no memories of how he got there. Where had he gone already? He tried to remember, eyebrows furrowed, but nothing came. He had stopped at a park for Matt, that he knew. There had been a young girl that had reminded him of his daughter. What had been her name? She had a scarf. And a mom. But no pets, they couldn’t have one in their apartment.

He packed a travel bag with some clothes, Matt’s toothbrush and toothpaste, a blanket and a handful of military rations. Matt was curled in his bag, snoring. He must have taken him for a walk, then. After breakfast. But it was afternoon now. Had he been out that long?

He just needed to go to Balsam Lake Mountain Forest. That’s it, that was its name! He remembered now. There, Matt would be alright. Frank didn’t know why he firmly believed that. He just knew it was the truth. It couldn’t be otherwise.

His mind blurred again as he climbed into his truck, placing Matt on the passenger seat and making sure he was safely installed. He had everything they would need for a short trip to the forest. As he closed the truck’s door, his phone chimed. It was a message from Foggy, replying to something Frank had sent. Had he sent something? Apparently.

Foggy was wishing Frank and Matt a nice trip away from New York. He had written that he would take care of everything while they were gone. “Look after the puppy!” and a wink.

It wasn’t far to the forest. Only three hours, which passed in the blink of an eye. 

Frank stopped the car in the parking area, pulled the handbrake and turned off the engine. Silence, then the sounds of the forest entered the truck’s cabin. Matt yawned and stretched, finally waking up for good. His ears moved, switching direction multiple times before he tried to walk to Frank, forgetting the gap between the seats. Frank saved him from falling just in time, and held him safely in his arms.

“Why don’t we go hiking, Red? What do you say?”

A tongue tried to enter his nose then reached his eyelids, while Matt’s tail tapped against Frank’s thighs. Matt was on board.

Frank jumped down from his seat, then turned to grab his bag with his free hand. Matt snuggled against his chest, both front paws resting on his shoulder. The sun was setting, but Frank knew how to make a simple shelter for the night, and he had a hammock he could always put up between two trees if he had to. He grabbed the travel bag he’d packed, managed to pass the shoulder strap around him without letting go of Matt, who was enthusiastically analysing their surroundings, his ears shifting.

After a quick verification to ensure he had locked the truck, Frank bent over to let Matt walk by himself.

“There you go. I ain’t carrying you the whole trip, Red.”

The dog’s head turned to him and stayed unblinking for a second before his tongue darted out and curled upward to lick his nose.

“You’re terrible,” Frank scoffed.

Matt turned his back on him and began to follow a trail, his nose on the ground, trotting along happily. He stopped a few meters away from Frank, turning his head to him again, as if to ask “why aren’t you following?” Frank zipped his jacket up to his neck, put his hands into his pockets and started to move.

“I’m right behind you, Red, you can go. Lead the way!”

ID: It’s a landscape view of a forest and a cloudy sky. In the foreground, Frank is standing with one leg on a big rock, the other one on the ground. He’s leaning slightly forward, his arms crossed. Next to him, Matt in his dog form is sitting on the rock. They’re looking at the horizon. The characters and the rock are inked and in black and white, whereas the background landscape is drawn in watercolours. End ID.

~°~

Frank hadn’t thought about having to share his hammock with a dog. He had to let Matt climb on his chest, otherwise the risk of crushing him if he rolled over in his sleep was too high.

On their third morning, after two days spent hiking, observing wildlife and building them a new shelter every night, Frank woke up with an unusual weight on his shoulder. Actually, what woke him up was the sound of the hammock’s ropes creaking as he stretched his toes and legs. The sun was just peeking above the horizon, a dim light shining on the east side of their shelter. Frank groaned and tried to move his right arm, but there was something heavy resting on it.

Heavy, but fluffy. Like fur. But it wasn’t the same texture as a dog’s hair. It was almost like… human hair?

Frank lifted his head and peered at the weight snoring on his chest. It took a bit of time, but he identified an arm encircling his waist, another resting in the crook of his neck. It was legs he was feeling against his, and _it was hair_ fluttering against his cheek, moved by the breath of the sleeper laying on top of him.

Matt was back, finally.

“Hey, Red?”

“Hrml?”

“What if we adopted a dog?”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a moment and enjoyed your reading, feel free let me know your thoughts in the comments! Thank you~


End file.
